Secret Keeper
by Dark Hope Assassin
Summary: To Yuki, who was in a hurry to grow up, it always seemed like time dragged on forever. And yet, it was as if before she had realized it, she had moved on to the high school division. (Souhei/Yuki, fluffy one-shot)


All throughout junior high Yuki had always been popular.

Among the girls, and among the boys alike.

She was popular, because she was honest and pure. She was always straight-forward and kind.

She was always smiling.

If anyone asked her how she was capable of always being so cheerful, how she could always smile no matter what happened, she simply beamed back at them.

There was really no secret to her cheerfulness. It wasn't like she didn't feel sad, or under the weather every now and then.

But she knew from her mother. She knew that, even in the saddest times, wearing a smile—no matter how much plastering it on one's face hurt—could make things seem a little less grim.

She knew that a smile could make everything better.

It was no secret. Everyone knew it.

She was just the only one who actually kept true to it.

* * *

The weeks and months passed. So did the years. To Yuki, who was in a hurry to grow up, it always seemed like time dragged on forever.

And yet, it was as if before she had realized it, she had moved on to the high school division.

In elementary school, it had only been a small class, comprised mostly of the kids from the cottages around the mountain.

In junior high, her class had been significantly bigger, made up of a lot more children, from places a lot further away. It was too far from her home to commute to every day, so she had moved into the dorms.

Every day had been so fun, and full of new things. She spent every waking hour surrounded by friends, and doing things with familiar and new faces alike.

The last vestiges of her wolf origins were starting to wane, in the very far back of her mind.

* * *

By the time they were in high school, the classes that attended school were four—twice more than in junior high.

There were many people around her, and she learnt how to get along with most of them just fine—sociable as she was.

But as she and all her friends and contemporaries grew older, it wasn't just their bodies that got bigger. It wasn't just in size that children grow, after all.

The more she aged, the more beautiful and fascinating Yuki became. Especially to the members of the opposite sex.

There was just something… _something_ about Yuki that made her different from other girls. The boys couldn't put their finger on what it was, but it beckoned to them on a primordial level.

Ever since they had started to become aware of her not simply as a classmate, but as a _girl_, Yuki had always had many suitors.

Her figure was slender. Her features were sharp but aristocratic. She was bustling with energy but always kind and caring. Her hair was soft and long, almost ephemeral when it billowed in the wind. Her skin was pristine white and smooth as silk. Her eyes were wide with wonder, always twinkling with mirth.

It was no secret why the boys were so smitten with her. Try as they might, even the girls couldn't bring themselves to dislike her. They didn't particularly like how the boys kept following her like puppies, but Yuki was such a lovely girl they couldn't blame her.

So, when she entered high school, with so many suitors in tow—juniors and seniors alike—it was mind-boggling to the girls how it was she continued being single.

When they confronted her about it to ask if she had lost her mind, Yuki simply smiled – like she always did.

"I'm just not interested in boys yet," she would say merrily, effortlessly changing the topic with her next sentence.

But even if she could fool the girls she had met in high school, the ones who had known her longer knew that not to be true.

It wasn't that she wasn't interested in boys, they knew.

It was just that she had eyes for one boy only.

* * *

"Hey!"

"Hmm?" she hums in the back of her throat, to show him she's listening as she continues folding the paper for her origami.

"You're not thinking something stupid, are you?"

She did look up at him at that, pausing briefly to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear as she lifted her head.

"Something stupid?" she echoed innocently. She was completely lost as to what he was talking about. "Like what?"

Souhei looked around conspicuously, before leaning in closer to her from across the desk that was between them.

"Y'know, something stupid, like," he lowered his voice to barely above a whisper, so she had to lean in even further to hear him better, "you won't go out with anyone because of your secret. Or, you shouldn't date anyone else before I do because I'm keeping your secret. Or something idiotic like that, are you?"

She heard him out, laughing softly aloud after he finished. Souhei's brow furrowed in irritation at her reaction.

"I'm not thinking anything like that," she assured him kindly, continuing to fold the paper laid out in front of her. When she lowered her head, the pesky strand of hair fell in her vision again. She tucked it away habitually before focusing on her task once more. "Why did you ask that so suddenly anyway?"

Her childhood friend looked away from her dainty fingers adeptly moving over the paper, applying just the right amount of pressure, creasing at just the right place.

"Well…" he started, but his sentence got suddenly halted. His words got stuck on their way out his mouth. He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck while avoiding looking at her. "That guy, Tanaka—he said he liked you."

"Oh," Yuki chimed in noncommittally, seeming entirely disinterested with the piece of information.

She was equally oblivious to the pair of hazel eyes scrutinizing her facial expression.

"I thought you got along with Tanaka," he offered ambiguously, leaving her plenty room to join the topic.

When she realized it was expected of her to make a comment, she did.

"I do get along with Tanaka-kun. He's a nice guy," she agreed conversationally, that same smile as usual on her face.

"Then why did you reject him when he confessed to you?" Souhei asked, his voice acquiring a certain edge. "Isn't that weird?"

"I don't think it is." She pushed the strand of hair behind her ear again. "I like Tanaka-kun, but he's just a friend. I can't accept his feelings if he sees me as something more."

"But—"

"Sou-chan is such a good friend," she said, still smiling to herself as she cut him off. Her comment caught him off-guard, her change of topic sudden and leaving him somewhat reeling.

"Huh?"

She looked up from the origami she was making, to fix him with her beautiful chocolate brown eyes.

"It's really kind of you to try to vouch for your friend with me, because you feel like you should. But it's okay. Even if you say those things, it won't change my mind."

Souhei heaved a sigh.

"You're so stubborn, Yuki. It makes no sense." He leaned back in his hair, lifting it on its hind legs as he pushed against it. "You're really popular with everyone here. You should choose one of those guys and date him. That way they'll stop pestering you about it."

"Is it a bother?" She met his gaze again, her usual lustre dampened by the insecurity swimming in her brown eyes. "Being burdened with keeping my secret? Having to listen to your friends talking about me to you? Is it a bother?"

His mouth opened, but no words came out. He clamped it shut, turning his face away from her.

"It's not," he told her quietly. "It's never been a bother."

Even if he didn't see it, he could practically _feel_ her grin beaming at him.

"I see," she said, relief thickly lacing her voice.

They spent a minute in the silence of the vacated classroom. They were the last two in it, after classes had been done for the day. The only students still on school grounds were the ones with club activities—sparse though those clubs were.

"You're pretty popular yourself," she suddenly piped in, making him look up from her hands folding the paper. "Isn't there someone you like?"

He was caught off-guard again. Her question whisked the air out of his lungs, leaving his chest burning.

When she looked up at him after he didn't answer, he was forced to turn his gaze away from her.

"Maybe there is," he told her evasively, eyes darting across the room, unsure where to settle.

"I see," she reiterated, a sigh escaping her lips. "I would hate if you feel like my secret keeper, then. I wouldn't want you to be holding yourself back on my account."

The bitter and pained note was so expertly veiled that if it had been anyone else she had been talking to, they may have missed it.

But Souhei knew her well enough to detect it.

His gaze returned to her, taking in her form as she finally finished her work. She gave it another one of her trademark smiles, admiring her handiwork.

He couldn't help a small smirk himself, as she placed the neatly folded wolf on its four papery legs.

The movement caused her hair to fall in her line of vision again. But in her distraction, she didn't put it away immediately like she usually did.

So it gave her a start when it was with a gentle, tender movement that he tucked the stray strand behind her ear.

"Then…" he started in a low tone, leaning across the desk again. "Is it okay if I don't hold back anymore?"

Her breath hitched in her throat because his face was so close to her she could count his eyelashes if she wanted to. Her heart started beating a thousand miles per second as he kept closing the tiny distance between them. The flock of butterflies in her stomach felt like they would explode out of her body if the flutter of their wings in her tummy intensified any further.

His warm breath tickled her cheek.

Yuki's eyes slid shut.

* * *

A/N: Loved this anime so much. The "Is it a bother?" question was a reference to Yuki's father. :3 Wonder if it came across right~ Hope you liked. :3


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